Logano wins second All-Star Showdown

IRWINDALE, Calif. – Joey Logano got his second NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown trophy and Sergio Pena nearly made a historic debut on the national stage.

Logano, 19, held off the 16-year-old Pena and two-time race winner Matt Kobyluck for the victory in the 225-lap race Saturday before a sold-out crowd at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.


Photo: Getty Images

NASCAR champ Johnson crashes in practice

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)—Four-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson crashed during practice Thursday for this weekend’s 24-hour race at Daytona International Speedway.

Johnson is feeling fine and hoping to get back behind the wheel for another practice on Friday, driver spokeswoman Kristine Curley said. Johnson is still planning to drive in the 24 Hours of Daytona on Daytona’s 3.56-mile road course.

“I put myself in a position with a GT car that I shouldn’t and paid the price,” Johnson said in a statement. “I hate it that I tore up equipment and put the guys in this spot. It looks like we will get this fixed and hopefully everything will be good for tomorrow.”

Johnson damaged the rear end of his No. 99 Chevrolet Riley Daytona Prototype trying to avoid a slower car. He hit the brakes, turned sideways, slid backward and slammed into the wall.

Johnson’s team is planning to rush parts to Daytona and work through the night in hopes of getting the car back on the track by Friday.

NASCAR '10: Looser Rules, More Contact

NASCAR plans to relax some rules this season and encourage drivers to be more aggressive and show more emotion.

NASCAR chairman Brian France says the goal is to "open it up" as an answer to criticism that the sport has grown stale.

Television ratings and attendance have slumped in recent years and NASCAR has held a series of meetings with its competitors to determine how best to improve the sport (why didn't they just ask the fans?).

In addition to some internal restructuring and a transition from a wing to a spoiler on the race car, NASCAR will now permit bump-drafting at Daytona and Talladega and more contact on the race track (that's a no brainer).

I ask, why in the world did NASCAR change the rules to begin with? The beatin' and bangin' in the 80's and 90's is what drew in the crowds. For pete's sake NASCAR, let 'em race and stop being so politically correct about everything. You (NASCAR) have done nothing but ruin the sport since the early 2000's. What a shame.

Hey All You Jimmie Johnson Fans...

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, will be a guest on NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" tonight at 12:35 a.m. ET/11:35 p.m. CT.

OH BARF!

By The Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be a VIP guest at next month's Daytona 500.

Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig says Palin will make her first appearance at NASCAR's most storied track the day before she serves as guest speaker at the city's annual chamber of commerce dinner.

Palin won't have any official role in the Daytona 500, but the former Alaska governor will be introduced at the pre-race drivers' meeting along with other celebrities.

Braig says track officials checked with NASCAR's political advisers before signing off on Palin's visit. Braig says the reaction was to "showcase her just as much as we would our mayor, our governor or our senators."

HMS loans airplane, crews for Haitian relief efforts

By The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Hendrick Motorsports has loaned an airplane and two flight crews to an organization that is participating in the Haitian earthquake relief efforts.

The NASCAR team loaned a 45-passenger plane to Missionary Flights International, which will send support teams in and out of Port-au-Prince. The first flight is scheduled to leave Fort Pierce, Fla., on Saturday morning and will take 30 passengers and medical supplies into Haiti.

The HMS aviation team is planning to fly at least one roundtrip per day, with no timeline set on how long the plane and personnel will be on loan. HMS officials have a second plane on standby, and team owner Rick Hendrick is covering all costs associated with the flights.

Haiti: How To Help

The U.S. State Department Operations Center said Americans seeking information about family members in Haiti should call 1-888-407-4747. Due to heavy volume, some callers may receive a recording. "Our embassy is still in the early stages of contacting American citizens through our Warden Network," the U.S. State Department said in a statement. "Communications are very difficult within Haiti at this time."


For those interesting in helping immediately there are 2 ways people can donate via their cell phones:


Text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.


Text "YELE" to "501501" and a donation of $5 will be made automatically to the Yele organization (Wyclef Jean's Haiti relief organization)


Below is a collection of charitable organizations also accepting donations towards the relief effort in Haiti. We will update this list as more charity information becomes available


Action Against Hunger
American Red Cross
American Jewish World Service
Americares
Beyond Borders
CARE
CarmaFoundation
Catholic Relief Services
Childcare Worldwide
Church World Service
Direct Relief International
Doctors Without Borders
Episcopal Relief & Development Haiti Fund
Feed My Starving Children
Food for the Poor
Friends of WFP
Haiti Children
Haiti Marycare
Haitian Health Foundation
Hope for Haiti
International Medical Corps
International Relief Teams
International Rescue Committee
Medical Teams International
Meds and Food for Kids
Mennonite Central Committee
Mercy Corps
Operation Blessing
Operation USA
Oxfam International
Partners in Health
Rural Haiti Project
The Salvation Army
Samaritan's Purse
Save the Children
UNICEF
World Concern
World Relief
World Vision
Yele Haiti




The FBI urges people who are looking for ways to help with earthquake relief to be wary of solicitations that could be from scam artists.


"Past tragedies and natural disasters have prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organization or a good cause," the FBI says today, in passing along these tips:


-Ignore unsolicited e-mails, and do not click on links within those messages.


-Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as surviving victims or officials asking for donations via e-mail or social networking sites.


-Be cautious of e-mails that claim to show pictures of the disaster areas in attached files, because the files may contain computer viruses. Open attachments only from know senders.


-Decline to give personal or financial information to anyone who solicits contributions.


-Make contributions directly to known organizations, rather than relying on others who claim in e-mails that they will channel the donation to established groups.


The FBI says anyone receipting an e-mail that appears to be a scam should forward it to this website: www.ic3.gov

In my opinion Kyle Petty has hit the nail on the head

"If she gets in that car and doesn't win races it's not the car, it's not the engines, it's not the team. They only changed one thing. Initially, she'll have an impact on the sport. If she's successful, she'll have a huge long-term impact on the sport," Petty said.

"But if she's not successful the only impact she'll have on the sport is she wasted two or three years on a car that a good driver could have been in and could have been developing."

He also noted the recent open-wheel drivers that have tried to make the jump to NASCAR and weren't very successful.

"I think she can come here, but I look at [Dario] Franchitti, I look at Tony [Stewart] when he first came over from open wheel, I look at Juan [Montoya] and they are incredibly talented individuals," Petty said. "Juan Montoya is probably, car control-wise, one of the most amazing human beings you've seen in a car and he struggled for three years at this level, and she's not Juan Montoya.

"She's not Dario Franchitti and she's not Tony Stewart. She's not really shown over there [in the Indy Racing League] and won races and done stuff over there numbers-wise. She's just a marketing machine. Let's look at the facts and be blunt about it."

I agree with Kyle Petty 100%. Personally, I can't stand her and I don't see what all the hype is for. I wish it was Helio instead of her, but Helio is staying put.

Barrett-Jackson Schedule

Jimmie Johnson and wife expecting 1st child

CHARLOTTE, N.C.(AP) —Four-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and his wife are expecting their first child.

A spokesperson for the driver says Chandra Johnson is due in July. No other details have been announced.

Happy New Year!